


Ride: Chapter Ten

by krispino, pinto_round_robin



Series: Ride [10]
Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: M/M, Pinto Round Robin, Road Trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 03:05:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4123453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krispino/pseuds/krispino, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinto_round_robin/pseuds/pinto_round_robin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, I’m sorry sirs but all our rooms with two beds are currently occupied.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ride: Chapter Ten

Eventually, they climb back to their feet, wipe the dust from their pants, and walk back to the mechanic. The greasy man inside shakes his head as soon as they step through the door. Chris has to bite his lip to hold back a whine.

“Sorry,” the guy behind the counter says. He’s wiping down a wrench with a yellow rag and doesn’t look particularly sorry at all. “We were more backed up than I thought. Should be ready first thing tomorrow.”

 _”Tomorrow?”_ Chris repeats as soon as they step outside. The sunset has long gone, leaving a starry sky in its wake. His eyes catch on a neon sign just down the road, a bright green VACANCY, and he sighs, jerking his thumb toward the hotel. “Guess we better get moving, then.”

They retrieve their bags from the trunk of the Bel Air and set off down the road in a companionable silence. It only takes a few minutes to reach the mildly dilapidated hotel where the parking lot is already full of cars, a gallery of out of state license plates and ‘wash me’ drawn through the dust of a hundred rear windows. The woman at the front desk greets them with a tired smile.

“One room or two?”

“One,” Zach says. The woman’s interest seems to peak, her smile turning into something shrewd as she glances between them. After a beat, she turns back to the computer and begins to book the room.

“I have to say, you two make a handsome couple.”

“What? No, we’re not, uh– I mean, we’re not together.” Chris can feel himself turning red as well as he can feel Zach looking at him, but he stares determinedly at receptionist. “Well, I mean, obviously we’re together just not, you know... _together_.”

“Oh.” The receptionist is clearly embarrassed but there’s still something in her eyes that makes Chris think she doesn’t really believe him. “Well, I’m sorry sirs but all our rooms with two beds are currently occupied.”

“There’s nothing else? At all?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

This time Chris does look over at Zach, who glances back at him with a shrug; he looks as cool as ever, like Chris’s earlier stumbling didn’t faze him in the slightest. And maybe it hadn’t. Maybe Chris is overthinking things. It wouldn’t be the first time. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve found themselves in close quarters, either, but things are different now. Back then, Chris hadn’t been harboring a secret love of epic proportions and Zach hadn’t been fresh out of a relationship. But Zach’s relationship status doesn’t factor in now. Chris is the real hang up and as long as he can keep his feelings under wraps, what could possibly go wrong?

“Fine,” he says through clenched teeth. “We’ll take it.”

By the time they leave the desk, hotel keys in hand, he doesn’t think he’s ever been more relieved in his life. The room is a little on the dingy side but neither of them are willing to walk across town and see if there’s anything better. They’re so exhausted that Chris can almost forget that he’s about to be up close and personal with Zachary Quinto himself. 

Chris usually prefers to sleep in his underwear but he tugs on a pair of sleep pants for Zach’s sake, leaving his torso exposed. Zach does the same and Chris can’t help but take him in. He keeps it brief, eyes sliding over and away in a matter of seconds; hopefully Zach won’t notice, or he’ll pass it off as part of the search for the sock Chris abandoned five minutes earlier, now rumpled on the floor at the foot of the bed.

He snatches it up and throws it in with the rest of his dirty laundry. When he straightens, Zach is looking at him with a modicum of uncertainty.

“So, uh, which side?” Chris asks after a moment.

“Left,” Zach says immediately. He pauses. “If that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah. Sure. That’s fine.”

It is _not_ fine but he can’t let Zach know that. They stare at each other for another moment until Zach’s face splits with a wide yawn and they both move to climb into bed. There is enough space between them that they can lay down without touching. Chris lies down on his back, rigid, hands clasped over his stomach. Touching is probably inevitable but he can at least try to avoid it while he’s still conscious. He can feel the bed dip as Zach crawls in beside him, the small shakes as he makes himself comfortable between the scratchy sheets. Eventually, the movement stops.

“Goodnight, Chris,” Zach says on the tail end of a sigh.

“Goodnight, Zach,” Chris answers. It comes out as a whisper and he isn’t sure if Zach even heard him. It doesn’t really matter but it weighs on his mind, anyway, as the silence stretches from seconds into minutes. It’s going to be a long night.

————

When he wakes, Chris is acutely aware that he has been captured by an unusually large octopus. As the fog clears from his brain, he realizes that it is not an octopus wrapped around him – it’s Zach. Morning grogginess seeps out of him all at once and he tenses. He can’t remember falling asleep last night and he certainly can’t remember how or when he became part of a very involved hug. 

Through the panic, Chris can’t help but revel in the closeness. Zach’s embrace is familiar and warm, and they fit together perfectly, as though that’s where he was always meant to be. He wonders if Miles ever felt this happy with Zach. Chris decides the answer is no. Why else would he have ever let Zach go?

But it’s not his place to think about it, and it’s certainly not his place to be the one Zach wakes up to in the morning. Chris puts his hand on Zach’s arm and tries to gently pry it away, but Zach only clings tighter, pulling Chris closer to him. He can feel everything: the warmth radiating out from him, the exact texture of his skin where their chests touch, the thick hair on his arms where Chris’s hand still rests. He would be lying if he said a small part of him wasn’t enjoying it, but he doesn’t want it like this – illicit, fleeting, and not really his at all.

Chris sucks in a silent breath and steels himself to try and move again. He manages to push the arm almost completely away but Zach shifts and curls it back around him, head pitching forward to rest against Chris’s shoulder.

“Five more minutes, Miles,” he mumbles. Chris’s breath catches in his throat and then it’s all over.

Zach tenses. His breaths come in short, hot puffs that Chris can feel on his skin. Slowly, Zach peels himself away, carefully avoiding looking at Chris’s face. Awkwardly, they climb out of bed and dress. For a moment only the sounds of shifting clothes and zippers fill the room, along with a tension that feels thicker than butter. Chris wonders if Zach is embarrassed about the name he said or the way he woke up, curled around him like he had no intentions of ever letting go. He probably shouldn’t be embarrassed, though; Miles had called him last night, _of course_ he was on Zach’s mind.

When Zach emerges from the bathroom, clean and freshly coiffed, Chris opens his mouth to say as much – hopefully more eloquently, in a way that suggests he doesn’t really care what happened even if it’s making his insides do all kinds of somersaults – but Zach beats him to the punch.

“I’m going to check on our car,” he says, offering a small smile. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes and it looks so wrong that Chris wishes he wouldn’t even try.

“Yeah, okay,” Chris says with a shrug. “I’ll, uh, grab our stuff and check us out, then.”

He summons his own tight grin until Zach leaves, pulling the door shut behind him. Then the smile slides off his face and he flops back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to keep his feelings under wraps when he finally knows what it feels like to be in Zach’s arms, when he knows exactly how rough with sleep his morning voice can be. But he has to find a way.

Chris forces himself to get off the bed and gather their bags, tugging them behind him as heads down to the front office. There is a different woman sitting behind the desk this time and he allows himself a sigh of relief. It’s the little things. When he’s finished paying, the door jingles open behind him and he turns to see Zach with a pair of keys dangling from his fingers.

“She’s ready to go,” he says. The smile on his face is still hesitant but far more natural than the one in the hotel room had been. It makes Chris relax a fraction and he catches the keys Zach tosses to him. “They parked it by the gas station.”

“Then let’s get this show on the road!” Maybe if they both fake it long enough they can find their groove again. Chris certainly hopes so, otherwise this is going to be a very long trip.

“Aye aye, Captain.”


End file.
